


The Stuff of Dreams

by DustyStarGirl



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Classic Doctor Who References, Empath, Gen, Original Character-centric, POV Original Character, Post-Time War (Doctor Who), empath character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 16:44:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17084006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DustyStarGirl/pseuds/DustyStarGirl
Summary: Ever since Faith can remember, the Doctor has always been in her head. For years, she has followed him around in her dreams, wishing that she could be a part of his crazy life. To her, the mad-man in a box has always more than just a dream. But that's all he ever was, according to her adamant parents and the many, many therapists she has been forced to throughout her teenage years.And she was almost starting to believe them, too.Until one day, things take a very unexpected turn and Faith is thrust into a world she can only begin to understand.





	The Stuff of Dreams

Faith's first dream oh him was when she was only five.

She remembered standing in red grass on a mountain, looking down at the most awesome view her young eyes had ever witnessed. Against an orange tinted sky, stood a city enclosed in a huge globe that sparkled in the sunlight.

It made her feel very, very small.

Even she knew there was no way that she was on Earth anymore. Earth didn't have snow globes that big. And she was pretty sure red grass wasn't a thing either. Unless it was burnt, of course.

She also knew she wasn't alone. A few feet in front of her, stood an older man. He was facing away from her, looking down at the city, just like she was. His greying wispy hair blew softly in the light wind.

Faith wondered if he knew she was there.

Her question was soon answered when he turned around and seemed to look directly at her. He reminded the young girl of her uncle. He also wore a black suit. Even when he wasn't working. Faith's mom once told her it was because it made him feel important.

"Um...hello," she greeted him nervously. 

His expression broke into a soft smile and he nodded at her. Or rather, he smiled at someone behind her.

She looked behind her to see it was a young girl. Not as young as her, though. More like a teenager. She was grinning happily as she skipped towards them.

"Hello Grandfather!" 

By the looks of it, they both couldn't see Faith. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, yet.

"Good evening, Susan."

"I was looking for you for ages! Mother said you were down by the lake, but you weren't there."

"Susan-"

Faith didn't notice the world she was standing in had begun to twist and blur around her. Without warning, the scene before her disappeared and she was alone in a sea of darkness. An unmistakable feeling of falling washed over her. 

She woke up in a cold sweat in her own bed, the morning light pouring through her golden curtains. While she was very confused and a little disorientated, she also felt a strange feeling her young mind couldn't comprehend. It was something along the lines of wonder and excitement. 

Nevertheless, Faith did exactly what most five year olds would do when anything slightly out of the ordinary happens; she ran directly to her parents' room to tell them about her dream, which she remembered in great detail. Her parents, of course, didn't think much of it. Their daughter did have a very active imagination when she wanted to. 

But then she began to run into their room almost every single morning. Always with a new tale of the the man with the different faces and his blue box.

"How do you know it's the same man?" Her father had asked one morning as Faith was giving a detailed account of how the one with the funny bow tie had saved a group of children from a robot.

"Because it is," she has said simply, eager to dive back into her story.

"But does he have a name?"

"Ah...I think it's the Doctor."

"Doctor Who?"

"Just the Doctor. It's not a very proper name, is it?"

Her parents still hoped that it was some imaginary friend she had created while she was going to sleep. They chalked up to to her active imagination and ignored how excessive or dark some of her stories were. She would often talk about strange 'aliens' with names like 'Dalek' and 'Cyberman.'

While most kids' imaginary friends had tea parties, Faith's battled dangerous foes in far off galaxies, and was strangely good at soccer.

They let it slide for a few years. Faith enjoyed the dreams and anyway, what real harm could they do?

But once she turned twelve, things started to change. Her parents no longer listened avidly as she told her stories. Instead, they exchanged odd looks and she once 'accidentally' overheard a conversation where her name and the word 'psychiatrist' were mentioned in the same sentence.

And so she stopped telling them about the Doctor and his life. She was still having the dreams, every night. He had a very long, crazy life, filled with both happiness and sorrow. But she didn't mind. They were always so fun to watch. And she had become used to the falling feeling that happened every time too.

The Doctor was a part of her life and she liked it. But she knew he was only a dream. Aliens and time travel didn't exist in her world.

Or at least she did think that, until one night, Faith woke up screaming. She had been dreaming of the Doctor again. Except, this time he wasn't saving a planet, he was destroying one. His own one.

She knew what was going on; the Daleks and the Time Lords, his species, were locked in a deadly battle called the Time War. Faith knew why he was doing what he was doing.

It wasn't like all the other dreams. Usually, she would just watch and follow him around. The fact that nobody could hear or see her always made her feel so disconnected.

But this time was different. It was as if she could feel all the emotions he was feeling. Every last raw emotion sent a chill through her body as she watched him take the Moment from the Time Vault and walk across the desert. His sorrow, his pain, his guilt, his regret and his rage broke her heart and made her want to throw up.

There was no stopping him.

But as pointless as her efforts were, she still tried.

She noticed how he seemed to be talking to someone who wasn't there and for a brief second she thought that he could finally see her. But of course that wasn't true.

She heard the name, 'Bad Wolf.' Faith knew that name, from another dream. Not that she could actually call what was happening a dream anymore.

This was too real.

When he turned around to face the Moment again, Faith felt his emotions spike again, sending waves of anguish through her body.

She knew he had to do this. The war would destroy everything if it wasn't stopped. More planets would fall and countless more would die if Gallifrey wasn't destroyed. It would be the end of everything.

She knew that and he knew that.

But Faith still screamed at him to stop. To turn away and leave the Moment where it was. 

Even though it was pointless, even though a part of her knew there was no other way.

"Doctor, please," was the last thing she said, as the world around her became a familiar blur and she began to fall.

In that moment she swore he looked directly at her. But that was impossible.

She woke up, soaked in tears and screaming his name. Her parents were standing over her, scared out of there minds. They had been trying to wake her for ten full minutes, but to no avail.

That morning was also the day of her first therapy session. The first of many, many sessions where she would be asked to recount everything that had happened with the Doctor. And then told none of it was real.

That he was never real.

But how could that be true?

No matter how many different therapists or pills they threw at her, the Doctor never left. From that point on, she could always feel his emotions in her 'dreams.' However, they weren't usually as traumatic. When he was happy or excited, she felt it. When he was confused or angry, she felt it too. It was only when something truly devastating happened, like losing Adric or Rose, did it really hurt.

She promised herself, during one particularly bad day where she had a rather dramatic fight with her parents, that she would never stop believing.

Not ever.

Meanwhile, the strange crack on Faith's bedroom wall never went away, no matter how many coats of paint her parents tried to plaster over it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya everyone and welcome to my first work on this site.
> 
> At this point in time I'm not entirely sure how long updates will take, but for the next couple of weeks they should be quick enough.
> 
> ***Just so its known, Faith still doesn't know about the events of Day of the Doctor during her 'dream' of the War Doctor.***


End file.
